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Liver Damage from Vicodin. How much have others livers tolerated?

Hello,

I have been a chronic vicodin user for almost 5 years. My max was about 10 Norco for about 6 months but have used on and off for about 5 years, average 5 per day. I know that I have probably done permanent damage to my liver. I know I need to go get my liver checked but I am scared to death. For those people out there that have gotten tested, how much were you guys using and your liver still checked out ok???

I know everyone is different and Im not looking for answers just experiences from those that have taken large amounts of Vicodin and still had their livers check out ok?

Ive been on hydro for a little over 4yrs up until 17 days ago i was up to15-20+ a day. My liver checked out fine. Just go get the blood test.Its simple. If the damage is done,it done. Are you still taking them? Everyone IS different.Theres alot of factors that also play into liver damage such as the amount of alcohol you consume.

Yes, i agree. Everyone is different. I plowed handfulls of vics and percs for the last decade. Sometimes up to 120 in one weekend. Im not bragging...i am ashamed. But i have had my liver checked out and it is fine. There are some symptoms you can watch out for such as frequent urinating and fevers..coldsweats. You can google or easily find out more online. But i would not worry too much. Let me know about anything interesting you find out from whatever source you use!

I was on pain meds for 10 years taking anywhere from 12 to 15 in the last years of my using, I have been clean 11 mths now and my liver has checked out fine.. Dont be scared just get the test and ease your mind...shine

Thank you guys. I am not totally off but not chronically using. Hey, just being honet. I know you guys dont judge and I do want to get rid of this stuff for good. Just so scared about what I have dont to myself. So ashamed. My family has no idea and would be so confused if I had liver failure. I hate myself for doing this.

Getting your liver test checked is just a blood test even if you are taking less the 4000mg of apap your liver can also be affected by other things even social drinking .Go have it checked out good new is the live with time can heal itself there is a supplement called milk thistle it can help to repair some damage if you have some

I am glad you're thinking of quitting. I think most of us here have worried about our liver damage. The real damage is done to your body chemistry. It takes a long time to restore itself. Although quitting is hard. It is really the easy part. Staying clean, is the hard part. Get your self a plan to get clean, and some sort of aftercare to stay clean.

Thank you for the words of encouragement. I guess you get so beat down with this stuff that the kindness on this board is amazing and overwhelming. Truly, thank you for taking the time to give me your feedback.

Although everyone is different I'm sure your liver is fine. Awhile back I was taking well over 12,000mg of acetaminophen a day and some days I was even closer to 18,000mg. I often vomited because of it. I knew I had to be hurting my body but didn't have the willpower at the time to quit. It was always, "I will stop tomorrow". It took awhile before my tomorrow came but it did. It can for you also. I took this amount almost every day for darn near a year. The only days I didn't take it was when I was prescribed oxycontin. But once it ran out from taking too many I would take vicodin and have to take so many just to keep the withdrawals at bay. I thought for sure my liver would have been on the verge of failure. I too was nervous about going and getting it checked. I had to get some blood work done before a MRI and the also checked my liver unknowingly. The results came back fine and this was during active use. Everything was normal. I often wonder if one may day of using would have done me in. Even if you do have some liver damage, which I'm confident you don't, it will more than likely heal itself if you stop taking the norco. The liver is an amazing organ and can heal on it's own or with the help of meds if needed. Don't stress it but go and get it checked. It will help stop your worries.
Be sure to stick around and lean on us when you are ready to quit. We will walk you through the withdrawal process every step of the way!
Best of luck!

You are so lucky that your liver didn't just shut down. I'm glad you survived it. Doses like that with alcohol are how some die on purpose. It's good to see you posting, with that work schedule of yours.

My has slowed down so I'm off for awhile. Work slows down in the summer.
Luckily I have never been much of a drinker. I can't even tell you the last time I had even a sip of beer. I can guarantee if I was a drinker I wouldn't be here right now! Someone up above is looking out for me! I'm just glad I got my back pain under control and also my life. Never again will I put my body through that!

I was abusing codeine for 20 years and alcohol for 34 years,my liver was being damaged and it is the reason I quit,My liver enzymes tripled in less than 2 years, the liver is amazing I was lucky we caught it in time and now my liver has repaired itself,but I have been told if I abuse alcohol and codeine again the next time it probably won't repair itself.

I have been a user now for about 5 years now and Prolly like everyone else I started with only 1 or 2 and it was only a day or two out of the week. Then it was 2 or 3 a nite when I went and partied with friends. I felt like it opened me up more, being a shy person I liked the way I acted around people when I was high on them. It all went down hill from there. I started them more and more threwout the week. And started taking more each time. Now I have to take at least 7 of them just to be able to feel them. And of.course I always always want to get as high as possible so I take up to 10 or 12. And I have done it now for the past two years taking up to 10 a day. I got married last year and my wife doesn't know I have this problem. And I have such bad withdrawls its getting harder to hide it and I want to quit sooo bad and I've wanted to for years but I guess I don't have the will power and scared that my withdrawls will be so bad that my wife will know. My stomach is.starting to hurt really bad now and I'm scared of what I'm doing to my body. How can I quit this privately to where my friends and family won't know and without having to take a leave from my job and possibly loss it? I need help so bad and would love to hear some input. PLEASE HELP!

This is an old thread and may be over looked. Please go to the first page of the forum where it says "Post a Question". If you are serious about quitting, someone will help you and you will get a lot of support from the people here.
Even if you feel like you can't quit now, someone will still help you and give you good advice.

hello everyone i'm not real sure what to ask or say i have been reading some posts that have been put on here and i to have been trying to quit opiates for awhile now without any success i'm so scared of the withdrawls and having to deal with reality when i'm on my (happy pills) as i call them everything seems normal and i can function so giving them up terrifies the hell out of me but its something i need and want to do for my health and my marriage so if anyone has any comments or advice please send me some i appreciate it very much

I know this appears to be am older post but, like everyone else said, go get urself checked, I know it's scary, specially cuz it's so easy. And if I'm not mistaken the liver is one of the more amazing organs in the sense that it has the ability to repair itself as long as it isn't damaged beyond a specific point. I I have been using 10/325 norcs about 12 a day min for year and a half, and just saw the dr and told him bout my concerns with my liver and it checked out fine, told me even that it looked really good. Hope it helps

I take half a Norco a day for headaches, but do drink a few beers. I was a bit worried. Now i guess that small amount isn't too bad at all, plus i don't take the meds everyday. And yes! I'm a believer in Milk Thistle.

Hi, this is a really old thread you responded to but I had to read it over with the title saying "liver damage" in it. I just wanted to clarify in case others happen to read this now that the thread has been bumped back up...YES, the liver is an amazing organ...but NO, you cannot reverse cirrhosis...the liver will NOT heal itself. Milk Thistle was mentioned as if its a form of cryptonite or miracle herb...its not. Its good if your dog eats some poisonous mushrooms...or if your trying to rid your liver of some excess Tylenol....but its all hype in my books. Maybe Im just a grump cus I got Hep C...or maybe I just know what Im talking about.

"When the liver has damaged beyond repair it is known as cirrhosis. This is a serious condition, and the individual will not survive long if they continue to abuse alcohol. It is not possible to reverse the damage of cirrhosis, but it can be managed so long as the individual remains abstinent."

The liver "function" is tested through a simple blood test...to see what damage you have to your liver...you get a good ole fashioned biopsy. Your liver can be all ugly and scarred with the "functions" test saying nothings wrong...

Wow I think it's so incredibly considerate of y'all posting such incouagments. I'm taking a lot right now too and the more I take the more I think it's going to make me happier but the crappier I feel and more of a miserable failure I feel:( it's like a dark secret that no one knows about, no one ones just how many I take sometimes not even I know jut how many I've taken per day- I'm so ashamed yet I continue thinking ill feel better... Uhh why is this my life!?:( I hate myself for this but no one knows just how unhappy I truly am or for what reason I'm unhappy-

Never thought of myself to b a substance abuser...until.. oh.. last week. I am a strong person but I have done a lot of dabbling around & nothing has had me quite as impaired as this. I used to always be in control.. I didnt 'need' anything,.. but last week I hit my all time high.. I realized I ingested over 60 norcos in 1day... & yes, throwing up every few hours. I go, & I go hard.. at the beginning it was just a few a day. I used to think 5 a day was a lot... before long it was 10, 15, then 20... now I'm at 40 or 50 a day. Last week I was solo frustrated I was not getting tge same effects so I said "today, I'm gonna, feel good". Needless to say, the anticipation mixed w the sickness from the effort, I never really quite got there. Instead I pray to god at night that I wake up the next morning & hope I don't let my family down that I died of an uncontrollable drug overdose. Unless I've been there... u will NEVER understand this particular addiction.

I would love to be a quitter....but have no idea how to go about it. I hear its very difficult and the withdrawls are bad. I want so badly to stop, but have no idea if I can do it. I dont think I am strong enough. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I would love to be a quitter....but have no idea how to go about it. I hear its very difficult and the withdrawls are bad. I want so badly to stop, but have no idea if I can do it. I dont think I am strong enough. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hi chubawubba! and welcome. This is a great place for advice and support! We can help you quit. This is an old post. If you go to the top of the page and click on the Orange: Post a Question button, you can start your own post. You will get more responses and support. Feel free to tell us your story. What have you been taking, how much per day, for how long, etc

what do you do when you are taking it at the prescribed amount for 5 years for chronic back problems. I tried today to not take it and couldn't even walk, the pain was so bad. My Dr tried everything else before the vicodin and that was the first thing that helped me. I'm afraid to get my liver tested and afraid of the debilitating chronic pain without the medicine.

Hi there! This is an old thread. If you go to the top of the page and hit the 'post a question' link, you can tell your story and start your own thread. You'll be more likely to get support. If you are worried about liver damage your doctor can do a simple blood test to check your liver enzymes. If you are taking your meds as prescribed and not exceeding the recommended dose of tylenol daily you shouldn't have much to worry about. Start that thread so you can get some good support. Good luck to you!!

If you took your meds as prescribed its highly unlikely you have any liver damage. If you are concerned about your liver there are a few tests that you can have done to check. Liver Biopsy, FibroSure, or FibroScan tests. A liver enzyme test is not a good way to check the status of your liver. You can have severe fibrosis, Hepatitis, etc with normal liver enzymes.

I have been taking anywhere from 5-10 tabs a day for a few years, I am currently experiencing pain in my upper left quadrant. Im terrified to go have liver tests, simply because I dont want to know.....I JUST WANT TO QUIT!!! My family has NO IDEA.....I just dont feel human without them. When I dont have them, I can hardly get out of bed.....dont want to do anything. I look forward to morning...just to get THAT FEELING. Then I hate myself for doing it!! Im confined to the house and dont get out much, as I am caring for an elderly grandparent. Depression and back pain was what got me started, Gradually it took MORE to control it. I NEED HELP, but cant go to rehab...due to family obligations. Im scared of my doctor. Im afraid he may get me in trouble with the law and ride my Azz about it. I cant tell ANYONE I KNOW!!! HELP!

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